Arsenal's new sporting director Andrea Berta must "dive headfirst" into the Gunners' latest round of contract renewals to avoid a Liverpool-type situation, Charles Watts has told Sports Mole.
The North London giants are soon expected to welcome ex-Atletico Madrid chief Berta to the club in time for the summer window, and the Italian will have more on his plate than just bringing in a couple of marquee signings.
Arsenal are said to be planning to open talks with Bukayo Saka over a new contract, while Ethan Nwaneri is supposedly in line for a new five-year deal, although both men are not due to become free agents until the summer of 2027.
Over at Liverpool, all of Mohamed Salah, Virgil van Dijk and Trent Alexander-Arnold can leave for nothing at the end of the season, and with the latter now said to be on the verge of completing a switch to Real Madrid on a free transfer, Watts has expressed concern that Arsenal could be facing a repeat if Berta does not get to work straight away.
"We always talk about new signings, but the next round of contract renewals is so, so important to keep on what's gone on in the last few years," he said. "It's not just Saka and Nwaneri, you've got Saliba, Gabriel, Martinelli falls into that category even though he's got an option, which means he's got three years left technically. Myles Lewis-Skelly as well.
"These are really crucial key players, and they're not going to be that easy, these renewals. Saliba and Saka, they started about this point last time, and then it got down into the final year before they actually did agree these deals. So you've got to start them relatively early.
Watts reveals "big worry" over Arsenal contract renewals
"My big worry about the fact that Arsenal haven't had a sporting director for four or five months has been these renewals. Someone's got to get a firm grip on them, because you look at what's happened at Liverpool, there was a time when Liverpool didn't have a firm sporting director in place. These things were allowed to slide a little bit and by the time you get someone through the door, the clock's ticking and it makes it an awful lot harder.
"I asked William Saliba if he'd started yet and he said no. He said there was no rush. I think the fan base won't agree with that! The fan base will want these done and dusted. Arsenal's last set of renewals were a major success. Starting from Gabriel, they went through the spine of the team until Ben White signed last year. They got Saka, Gabriel, Saliba, Martinelli, Odegaard. No one left.
"They've got to start it again, and it's got to be a success again, because you don't want to lose any of these players. Everyone's going to be sniffing around. Saka, Saliba, Gabriel, who wouldn't want those players? Andrea Berta has got to just dive headfirst into these contract renewals and really show these players that Arsenal mean business and they want them to stay."
While Arsenal appear to be prioritising talks with Saka and Nwaneri, Gabriel Martinelli, Gabriel Magalhaes and William Saliba can also leave for nothing at the end of the 2026-27 season, having last extended their deals during the successful Edu era.
The Brazilian oversaw a plethora of contract renewals at the Emirates before his shock exit, also helping to tie down Ben White, Martin Odegaard and Takehiro Tomiyasu after he and Arteta oversaw Arsenal's rise from a mid-table team to genuine Premier League title contenders.
However, after back-to-back second-placed finishes in 2023 and 2024, Arsenal appear resigned to another silver medal at best this season, as they sit 12 points behind Liverpool at the top of the rankings with just nine games left to play.
'Arsenal players will not wait to win trophies'
The Gunners could still clinch a long-awaited triumph in the Champions League, where they face holders Real Madrid in next month's quarter-finals, but Watts has warned Arsenal chiefs that the biggest trophies must be delivered soon lest they risk their biggest names becoming tempted to leave.
"I'm definitely concerned," Watts said. "As much as there's this emotional tie at Arsenal with this group because they've come through together, if you're a top footballer, you want to win trophies. William Saliba will be walking into the French national team squad, seeing what all of his mates have won at Real Madrid, he'll want a piece of that.
"No matter how much he loves Arsenal, which he clearly does, and he spoke about it really well in a press conference. We all sat down with him and he said, unless you win trophies, you get forgotten pretty easily at a club like this. And it's true, but he's not going to wait forever.
"These players need to believe that they can still win at Arsenal, even though it hasn't happened yet. I think they do, I don't think we've got to the stage where they would have lost faith in the project or Arteta. But there comes a point when you've got to start winning.
"These aren't 18, 20-year-old kids. You're moving into the lower to mid 20 age group, where you're looking towards the end of your career. There's a hurt around Arsenal, around that changing room, the fact that they haven't been able to do it. They feel that pain, and they would love to put it right and finally bring this Premier League trophy.
"It's not going to happen this season, I don't expect any of these renewals to be done before the start of next season. I hope I'm wrong, but I think it's going to be a fairly long, drawn out process. I don't think anyone's going to go this summer. I'd be surprised unless someone whacked in a ridiculous bid that just made it impossible to turn down.
"They're all going to go again for another season, and fingers crossed they can get the job done next time. If they do, it's just inevitably easier to keep these players if they know and believe that they can win trophies."
What about Oleksandr Zinchenko's Arsenal future?
As well as the handful of players out of contract in two years' time, Arsenal stand to lose a couple of experienced professionals in the summer of 2026, Belgian attacker Leandro Trossard and Ukrainian defender Oleksandr Zinchenko.
The latter was seemingly the missing piece of the jigsaw when he arrived from Manchester City in the summer of 2022, but he has now been relegated to a bit-part role behind Myles Lewis-Skelly and Riccardo Calafiori.
Zinchenko has played just 17 times in all tournaments this season, making just two starts in both the Champions League and Premier League, although he came up with a brilliant strike in the recent 2-2 draw with PSV Eindhoven in Europe.
However, after Borussia Dortmund and Atletico Madrid reportedly showed interest in signing Zinchenko in January, Watts expects him to either be sold this summer or leave for free in 2026, even though he has recently impressed in a midfield role.
"I don't think he signs a new deal," Watts concluded. "I don't think Arsenal would extend his deal. I think it's either they will sell this summer if they have a good bid come in., but I wouldn't surprise if they think he can stay for another season, go on a free at the end of the following season.
'Arsenal were open to letting Zinchenko leave'
"He could have gone in January, they were open for him leaving in January. But no offer came in that made them stand up and take notice. They were quite happy for him to stay and continue to play because he's a valuable squad member.
"Mikel doesn't use him as much as he used to, but there is still trust in him. He's shown he can play in that midfield role that I think a lot of us have been calling for him to get some game time in for a while.
"It all depends on what happens in the summer. If anyone comes in with a bid that Arsenal deem suitable, they'll look to probably cash in on him and get a little bit of money back on their investment. But if not, I think they'd probably be happy for him just to stay around, be an important squad member next year.
"He gives you some versatility and then let him go on a free. But I'd be very surprised if he gets a new contract. I'm not sure he'd want to sign one anyway, but I don't think Arsenal would be overly keen to give him one."
Zinchenko recently broke his silence on his future with Arsenal, although his chances of more regular game time could be boosted by yet another knee injury to Calafiori, whom Watts also provided an update on following his withdrawal from the Italy national team. body check tags ::
